Cold email that reads like a person wrote it

A cold email works when the reader can see, in a few seconds, that it is about them, that it is easy to answer and that a real person wrote it. Most fail because they could have been sent to anyone.

The test

Before you send, ask: if a stranger sent me this, would I reply? A message earns a reply when it is about the reader's situation, makes one small ask and does not sound produced.

Subject lines

Name the one thing the email is about: a person, a product, an office, a hire. "manchester office" beats "growth opportunities".
Keep it to about one to four words, lower case, with no punctuation tricks.
Avoid sector labels such as "financial services regulation". They fit every firm in the sector, so they are about nobody.
Make sure the first lines deliver what the subject implied.

The body

Open on a fact about them, such as something they did recently, not a compliment or a statement about yourself.
Say what you do in one plain sentence.
Keep it short. Around eighty to a hundred words is plenty.
Ask one question the reader can answer in a word.
Write the way you speak: contractions, a short sentence beside a long one, no semicolons or long dashes.

Written, not generated

Generated: "In today's competitive landscape, firms like yours are navigating pressure to streamline client acquisition. Would you be open to a quick call?"

Written: "Saw the Leeds office opened in March. Who is handling new enquiries there, the partners or a business development hire?"

The second names a real event, asks about their situation and could not be sent to anyone else. These are invented examples to show the difference.

Follow-ups

Each follow-up should add something new: another fact, a different angle, a simpler question.
Do not open with "just checking in" or "following up".
Let the ask grow over the sequence. Start with a question, then offer something, and propose a meeting only once two messages have earned it.
End the sequence politely. Say you will stop, and do not read meaning into their silence.

What not to claim

Do not invent customers, case studies or statistics. People who buy professional services in particular notice an unsupported claim at once, and one false line can undo the whole email. If you have no proof to quote, make the argument without it.

The rules

Rules for unsolicited business email differ between countries and change over time. In general, identify yourself honestly, use a real reply address, offer a way to stop and honour it. Check the rules for where your recipients are. This is not legal advice.

How Accumen helps

Accumen writes a five-step sequence for each company from what the company has recently done and your own Company DNA. It rejects invented figures and customers, removes long dashes, checks for wording that reads as machine-written and asks the model to rewrite before you see the draft. Anything it could not fix is flagged on the card so you can edit it. The first 25 verified contacts are free, with no card.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a cold email be?

Short enough to read in a few seconds: roughly eighty to a hundred words, in two or three short paragraphs, ending on one easy question.

What makes a good cold email subject line?

It names the one specific thing the email is about, in a few lower-case words, and the first lines of the email deliver on it.

How many follow-ups are right?

Several, each with something new. A five-step sequence with a polite last note is a reasonable shape.

Should I include links in a first cold email?

Preferably not. Plain text with no links and no tracking pixels is less likely to be filtered and reads more like a personal message.